Fortunately, Kain was able to eventually get a couple hours of rest before the sun rose.
Once everyone awoke they packed up their belongings and continued following the tracks of the Meadow Moose.
Every once in a while, Kain would summon Queen so that Eve could release some life-attribute energy into the surrounding vegetation.
Then began a cycle of the ordinary weeds perking up for a short while only to sag over soon after.
However, once they had been travelling for nearly 10 hours following the tracks, finally the weeds began to remain vibrant for a noticeably longer duration.
Kain was now more confident that they were headed in the right direction.
He then pulled out his map, thankfully although they had travelled far from the school they were still within the borders shown in the map.
Judging by the direction they had headed in and the distance travelled, Kain tried to determine their approximate location.
“I’m pretty sure that we’re here. There is a body of water about 2 hours East of us. We can start looking for signs of the Astral Stag there.”
Unsurprisingly, since entering a region without as much dead vegetation, the number of spiritual creatures they came across increased drastically.
However, likely because they were not as desperate for food, they did not attack Kain and the others and just ran off.
When they did experience an odd attack, it was from an orange-grade spiritual creature, but even then just one of their group, aside from Aria, was able to kill a creature of that grade alone, much less when all together.
Gradually the density of the trees began to reduce and they can see something sparkling in the distance. When they got closer, they realized that it was the sun hitting the surface of the lake.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many spiritual creatures all in one place ever in my life,” said Finn.
Flying across the lake were delicate creatures, Flutterflies, with shining translucent wings, that resembled a cross between dragonflies and butterflies. They hovered above the water, occasionally dipping down to sip from the shimmering surface, leaving trails of luminescent dust behind them.
Within the lake, a group of small, floating creatures called Glintfish glided gracefully through the water. These fish had scales that reflected light like tiny mirrors, causing them to appear as glistening streaks beneath the surface. They fed on Lunarells, a type of aquatic plant that floated lazily on the surface, glowing soft blue colour.
The Lunarells had large, translucent leaves that were dotted with bioluminescent spots, giving them a magical quality as they bobbed gently.
At the edge of the lake, a lizard-type creature with scales resembling bark, known as a Rootveil Lizard, was partially submerged in the water. Its scales had a rough, textured appearance that helped it blend seamlessly with dense mass of aquatic plants floating on the lake’s surface. It moved slowly and deliberately, inching closer to a young ice-attribute swan spiritual creature.
This swan, with feathers that sparkled like frost under the sun, was paddling around with carefree innocence unaware that predatory eyes were fixed intently on it.
Dashing mere feet from where Kain and the others were hidden by the surrounding bushes was a group of Mistbunnies. The Mistbunnies’ fur shifted colors with their surroundings, making them appear like wisps of fog. They nibbled on the glowing petals of a spiritual plant resembling lilies located near the edge of the clearing.
Occasionally, a Mistbunny would jump towards a passing Flutterfly, trying to catch it with playful hops.
The lake was a vibrant, bustling haven of activity. Looking around there must have been thousands or even tens of thousands of spiritual creatures, all of different species, in the surroundings.
Despite the beauty of the scene, Kain and the others were aware that it was unusual to see so many types of spiritual creatures around one water source. It was as if all the creatures within a days travel East of their college had chosen to abandon their homes and native water sources and use only this.
‘Not as if. That’s probably exactly what happened’
Kain signalled to the others to back away from the clearing and gather together.
“The amount of spiritual creatures is enough to be a small-scale beast tide, there are also probably hundreds of yellow-grade spiritual creatures and maybe even stronger ones that we can’t see. We absolutely cannot make our presence known to them.”
Everyone nodded in agreement to Kain’s statement. None of them wished to turn what was supposed to be a simple field assessment into a suicide mission.
Although they were the elites among students of their age across the country, when faced with hundreds of yellow-grade spiritual creatures, and thousands of spiritual creatures orange-grade and below, they knew it was a hopeless battle. Doing so would be several times more challenging than their entrance assessment.
At least then they just had to use whatever means they had to cross the bridge, they were not required to solo-clear the beast-tide head-on.
“We first need to see if our target is around this lake. Let’s travel in groups of 2 and 3 to be safe. We will then meet back up at this location in an hour to share any discoveries.”
Everyone once again nodded in agreement.
“Great! Then I will organize the teams. Liam, Fiona and Finn will be one team and head in that direction around the lake. Aria and I will take the opposite direction.”
‘I don’t need to worry about Liam, Fiona and Finn. They are all pretty level-headed. The only one likely to mess everything up is Aria. Unfortunately, I don’t think Liam has the patience to try and save her even if she were dying right in front of him due to her own stupid actions. I’m also not sure if Fiona and Finn would be able to effectively hunt for clues while keeping an eye on her.
Therefore, I am stuck with baby-sitting duty.’ Kain thought sadly, wishing that there had been another suitable teammate he could have appointed as team leader to make them responsible for Aria.
The others had no problem with Kain’s arrangement. After all, they had managed to dodge being responsible for the biggest baggage.
Nobody thought anything more about Kain’s arrangements…that is except for one person whose face turned a deep red to match her hair.
‘He sent everyone else away to be in a group alone with me. Does he perhaps l-l-like me?!’